Tuesday, 15 May 2018

Haj Abderrahman ben Moussa (1908-1997) - Complete Qur'an on 60 cassettes published in Morocco, probably in the late 1980s - First set: cassettes 1 to 30

We post here - to celebrate the holy month of Ramadan - a complete Qur'an on 60 cassettes, recited by the outstanding Moroccan Qari (reciter) Haj Abderrahmane ben Moussa. In 2011 we had posted the first and last volume of this series in mp3 format. We also posted over the years a series of six volumes from a different series. See here. Now we post all 60 cassettes in flac and (better) mp3 formats.

Haj Abderrahmane ben Moussa (Abdul Rahman Benmoussa) recited in an old style, based on so-called Andalusian melodies. His recitations had a very refined musical and contemplative beauty. In this he was truly outstanding. I never heard any other reciter reciting his way. Nowadays this way of reciting seems to have disappeared. I had once an Algerian friend staying in our house. When he saw these Qur'an cassettes, he asked me to put on one of the cassettes. When he heard it he was very touched and happy. He said that this was the kind of recitation he used to hear in his childhood and that he had not heard it since decades. This friend talked to me about the beauty of these so-called Andalusian melodies, which are used in Arabo-Andalusian music, but even more so in Sama', the singing of spiritual or mystical poems of the Sufis, and by Haj Abderrahmane ben Moussa in Qur'an recitation. These are only known in Morocco and Algeria. Today one hears them only in the circles of very traditional Sufi orders.

"His full name is Abdul Rahman bin Ahmed bin Mohammed bin al-Bashir Benmoussi Hamasani Hasnawi Salawi, born in the city of Salé on August 28, 1908. Abdurrahman Benmoussa grew up in Beit Alam, where his father, the scholar Ahmed Benmoussa, was a jurist and modernizer. The memorization of the Qur'an was directed by Sheikh Abdul Hadi Ateobi, as taught to a group of elders such as Mr. Ahmed bin Abdul Nabi and Sheikh Abu Shuaib Aldakali and Mohammed bin Arabi Alawi. For a while he was at the service of King Mohammed V. Haji Abdurrahman Benmoussa used to pray in Ramadan with the king, his sons and his clan. In the framework of the construction of the Mulawiya school, Muhammad V commissioned him to teach the then crown prince Hassan II. Al- Sadeq Ma'nino (the former director of the Moroccan TV) said: The more difficult things were for King Mohammed V and the conspiracies of colonialism affected him and brought him into a state of distress, he would call Professor Abdurrahman Benmoussi to sit beside him and recite the Qur'an and recite a collection of verses. When King Mohammed V was banished to Madagascar he returned to the city of Salé. People got to know his voice through national radio, and then they got to know his image through Moroccan television in the early 1960s, which he opened and sealed with verses from the Holy Quran."

Perhaps you'll remember I started listening "to your blog" by downloading your Andalusian music. Such a great pleasure now to find here half a Qu'ran and the promise of the other half in a couple of days. I do really appreciate this music. Thank you so much, Tawfiq. Please go on. Ramadan Mubarak to you and yours...